Are you planning to grow nutrient-rich food without using soil and reduce water and nutrient usage? If yes, try a hydroponic system! Hydroponic gardening offers a great way to encourage plant cultivation using nutrient-rich water. But why use a hydroponic gardening system? An indoor hydroponic gardening system can produce fresh and nutrient-rich food any time of the year, whether spring or winter.
The best part of a hydroponic indoor garden by Gardyn is that it isn’t always complicated. While hydroponic gardens with scientifically advanced equipment and tools are available in the market, you do not need that! You can build a hydroponic garden from the comfort of your home!
Are you ready and eager to learn how you can create your DIY hydroponic system and enjoy nutrient-rich food across the year? Let’s look at these six DIY hydroponic gardens that you’ll want to try!
Wick Hydroponic System
The wick hydroponic system is the simplest DIY garden you can create and maintain. This system depends on absorbent materials like vermiculite and perlite perfectly packed around plant roots. Nylon wicks are set up to help transport the nutrient-rich solution to the plants. Wick hydroponic systems offer the lowest and easiest cost entry point into the hydroponic gardening world.
The materials are not only inexpensive, but also the build is straightforward. Also, it is a perfect hydroponic gardening system for DIYers who are averse to dealing with electronics and pumps. Wick-style indoor hydroponic systems are perfect for smaller plants such as herbs and vegetables like lettuce. Peppers or tomatoes may not flourish in this gardening system since they may require more nutrients than the wicks can supply.
Aeroponic Hydroponic System
An aeroponic system might be the purest and most elegant DIY system. Just imagine your plants growing healthy but being suspended in air or mist. This system relies on nutrient-rich water mist bathing the plant roots to obtain enough nutrients. That is how an aeroponic, at its most basic form, works.
Once the plant roots have been bathed by misted nutrient solution, the excess water drips into the collection reservoir, where a pump collects it, sends it via tubes, and re-mists it. With a DIY aeroponic hydroponic system, your plants can be suspended in foam containers or baskets. The plant roots drape down from the foam containers or baskets to be misted.
To create a DIY aeroponic hydroponic system, you need some previous skills due to their complexity, especially when it comes to tubing, pumping, and misting.
Drip Hydroponic System
A DIY drip hydroponic system operates through a well-constructed network of thin tubes that allow nutrient-rich water to drip directly onto the roots of plants. DIY drip hydroponic systems are the most dependable and popular form of indoor hydroponics.
These systems require special electric pumps that pump nutrient-rich water to the surface of a growing medium. The nutrient-rich water then gently drips around the plant roots. Once the plants have enough nutrients and water, the remaining solution drains down to the reservoir at the bottom.
Your DIY drip hydroponic system can be either non-recirculating or recirculating. Non-recirculating drip hydroponics systems usually discharge unused solution. On the other hand, recirculating systems transfer unused nutrient-laden water back to the growing surface.
Water Culture Hydroponic System
A water culture hydroponic system is also known as the lettuce raft technique. If you feel a wick system is too basic but still want something uncomplicated, a water culture system can be an ideal option. A water culture DIY hydroponic system eliminates all the barriers between the nutrient-bearing solution and the plant roots.
One common water culture hydroponic system that already takes place in nature is the water lily. When creating your DIY water culture hydroponic system, you need net pots to help you encase plant roots. But this is only intended to prevent your plants from wandering. With a water culture hydroponic system, your plants are in direct contact with the nutrient-rich solution.
Nutrient Film Technique/Technology Hydroponic System (NFT)
When you meet the name nutrient film technique, the first image to come into your mind is a complex system. While you’re like thousands of other homeowners looking for DIY hydroponic systems, this one is quite straightforward.
The film simply refers to a thin layer of nutrient-rich water that passes around and through the root systems of plants. Nutrient-rich water collects at the reservoir below the plants and is then reused. A pumping system pumps the nutrient-rich water back up to the top.
Plants don’t anchor themselves in the growing channels. Instead, they’re suspended above the channels, with their roots draping into the solution. DIY creators of nutrient film technique hydroponic systems, in most cases, utilize rain gutters as their pre-built channels. A few factors are considered when picking the gutters perfect for many varieties of plants raised with this technique, including the shape and size.
Ebb and Flow Hydroponic System
If you want a hydroponic system that depends on the computed draining and flooding of the growing medium, opt for a DIY Ebb and flow garden. In this type of gardening, the nutrient-rich solution remains one or two inches below the growing medium to avoid wash-out.
An Ebb and flow hydroponic system is usually larger compared to its counterparts to provide enough room for the creation of a mini flood-plain. An Ebb and flow hydroponic system has one major benefit. It allows the growth of root vegetables such as carrots.
How Can Gardyn Help With Growing Nutrient-Rich Water Hydroponically?
If you want to grow nutrient-rich plants hydroponically without going into the complexities of collecting materials to create your DIY system, you can opt for a hydroponic indoor garden by Gardyn. Gardyn offers aeroponic and hydroponic systems that utilize the latest technology to grow healthy plants.
Gardyn’s AI technology automates the entire growing process while working effortlessly to maximize harvests. And what is more? The Vacation Mode keeps your crops healthy when you are away. With Gardyn’s hydroponic solutions, you can grow nutrient-rich food with 95% less water and zero pesticides across the year, irrespective of the season.